Bridget Bites : Mindful Eating

Q:

Hi, first of all, I want to tell you that I admire you very much, I would like to be like you. I'm from Guatemala. Would you like to know how to lose weight permanently? I have achieved it, sometimes, but then I go back up and it is a yoyo, it goes up. I can not..Blessings, successes

A:

Hi! Thank you for your message and kind words. Means a lot 😀 I love Guatemala!

First off – there is no way to lose weight permanently. Our bodies aren’t built that way. We are designed to put on weight in times of excess food, and to lose weight in times of scarcity. The issue with modern times (for a portion of the world at least) is that there aren’t any long hard winters; there are no real times that we wont have access to some sort of nutrition. We are also hard wired to crave foods with high sugar and fat content, again, because back when we were hunter-gatherers, these foods would have given us more nutrition and kept us alive longer. Nowadays, some intelligent scientists have manufactured foods to hit all the desires of our ancestors (read Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss for more on this) and we have an obesity epidemic on our hands.

The point of all that was to show you how modern times aren’t exactly working on our innate, genetic side to keep us healthy. Our genes (and subsequently, cravings) have not caught up with our lifestyle. So please don’t beat yourself up about your weight. We are all fighting this from an uneven starting point!

My advice to you would be to let go of the weight loss mentality. Don’t approach food as something that you need to burn off, or control so that you are always in a deficit. Your weight (and self-esteem) will go up and down on this ride, and it isn’t worth it. You have so much more to offer to the world than to let yourself be distracted by dieting. My key points to get off this ride would be the following:

1. Eating three meals a day, plus a snack or two if you need it.

2. Make sure that your lunch and dinner plate is ½ vegetables, and the rest devoted to protein and starches

3. Start a meditation practice, so you learn how to be mindful

4. Apply this mindfulness to your hunger cues, and when you are eating

5. No foods are off limits – if you crave it, eat it

The last two points are key here. Once you allow yourself to eat whatever you want MINDFULLY; you learn to pay attention to your hunger cues, and how the food makes you actually feel. Eating a massive bar of chocolate feels great in the moment, but a few seconds after how do you feel? How about a day later? How is your energy and skin looking? Apply this mindful knowledge to your cravings, and you will find that over time they lose their hold over you. You will be one of those crazy people who are satisfied after a few squares and won't be thinking about it all day.

I know it sounds insane right now – but it does work! Letting go of foods that are “off-limits” means you are stepping off that rollercoaster of “ah fuck it” closely followed by “well all bets are off, today I eat all the food” followed by extreme guilt, promises to eat better and compensating by either exercise or eating less the next day. Ain’t nobody got time for that! We have so much more to offer the world than that.

As far as weight links into this, it all depends on how much you are over eating now. Probably during the beginning stages you will gain weight, as you allow yourself to eat all the foods you have previously restricted. But, as time passes, it will naturally come off, and you will find your weight stabilizing at what is right for you. It will be effortless to remain at this size, and you will feel good. And you can eat chocolate J If you want it!

Give it a try! I think you may find it works. Letting go of diet energy leaves so much space for life. It is the best feeling – free yourself!!